Television as Teacher - Book Report/Review Example

"Television as Teacher" Q Sesame Street undermines ideas which school system upholds traditionally. For example, attending school, usually aims at promoting social interaction among human beings, but watching Sesame Street via television is a total private affair (Postman Para.4). In addition, school allows for students to ask questions, develop language, cultivate good public behavior, but television watching does not offer this human privileges. However, in as much as people cannot be limited on the extent of fun which they can have with their televisions, school limits that as it tries to balance a person’s life (Postman Para.4). Q.

2Based on Postman argument, he introduces a new concept of collateral learning when contrasting television learning from actual learning in the classrooms (Postman Para.6). Based on a guide written by John Dewey, it was observed that learning alone is not about the content present in a lesson, but through collateral learning, which entails formation of enduring life attitudes that are fundamental in ones future. Therefore, television in real sense only teaches children what they can view, whereas in classroom, they can be able to learn through collateral learning and gain life rules (Postman Para.6). Q.

3 Television has managed to control time and attention of the youths through offering captivating programs that entice them and make them glued to them. With many people possessing television sets in their households, it is becoming more difficult for youths to Read printed words as they get everything easy to them through the television set (Postman Para.8). Since television is part of technological advancements that emerged after print media, many have come to believe that it is a faster means of acquiring knowledge compared to reading them physically.

Take for instance a novel which has a movie version of it, instead of student spending a whole semester reading, one will always take the cheaper option of watching it. Television has managed to take control of the way the youths think as it is able to sway them (Postman Para.8). By the use of influential public figures, youths have been made to think that academics is not that important and hence spend more time with their television sets thinking they can learn a thing or two of becoming like their idols.

Therefore, I do agree that television has managed to corrupt the minds of our youths and taken control of their time and attention.Q.4 Based on Postman statement of how teachers are nowadays trying to convert the old classroom setting to be entertaining, I believe the new system will work. For many years, students have been forced to sit in classrooms and forced to understand hard subjects which their minds could not accommodate (Postman Para.16). In a bid to introduce entertainment as part of education, like for instance watching some short documentaries during class sessions to supplements class subjects could be beneficial since human’s beings retain more of images than words.

For example, if one would like to teach students about the wildlife, a teacher coming to class and showing students a documentary about the wildlife could really enhance their understanding as they would be able to see in practical sense what the books say. Visual entertainment provides enhance learning at schools and should be encouraged (Postman Para.16). Works CitedPostman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Wiley & Sons, 1983. (Postman Para.4)